Ash Garden

“For months, after waking up in the Red Cross Hospital, I was forced to lie on my stomach in order to let the wounds on my back breathe and heal. My left eye had sealed over with scar tissue and pus since I was shipped here from the Oshiba Aid Station, where we had been taken after being found near the river by a group of soldiers.”

This quote is taken from the beginning of the novel. Emiko is talking about the months after the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and how it affected her life. I chose quote because it depicts the horrors of what happened in Hiroshima quite vividly. This quote puts in to question the morality and logic behind dropping the bomb. This is a question that Anton struggles with throughout much of the novel.

"He was no stranger to this sort of ambush, which was not uncommon during these hot and emotional summer days. He'd been sought out often enough to know he had to prepare in advance for whatever words came: war criminal, butcher, mass murder. He had learned to hold his tongue. To offer the silent respect each of his accusers deserved, without, of course, ceding a single point."

This quote appeals to me as it shows that Anton is fully aware of the pain and suffering that was caused from the atomic bomb. Many points are brought up by the interviewers comparing Anton to that of Adolph Hitler or Saddam Hussein. He understands their point of view and does not try and defend his actions. This shows that he was fallowing orders and when looking back maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do but it was necessary.

"At night he reminded himself why all this had happened. He'd close his eyes and remember that there had been no alternative. Us or them. The sad fact of the world. A tragic inevitability."

This quote appeals to me because it is humanizing Anton. He is trying to convince himself that there was no alternative to dropping the bomb. By doing what he had done, he had spares many more deaths, thus making the action just. This begins to show you that Anton has a soft side that is deeply affected by what he did. This is a change from the cold work driven scientist that the rest of the novel had portrayed him as.

What parts of the novel were the toughest to write?

Would you change anything about your book?

Do you agree or disagree about the use of the atomic bomb?